Flag disposal

The Gloucester Ruritan Club held a flag retirement ceremony on May 12 led by Paul Bauer, chair of the Citizenship and Patriotism Committee. Bauer related several historical facts with club members, e.g., Pledge of Allegiance author Francis Bellamy’s first published generic version in September 1892 used the words “to my Flag” so that it could be used by any country, the words “of the United States of America” were added in 1923, and President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words “under God” in 1954. A total of 247 flags were retired, 174 of which were collected by American Legion Post 75. Shown at the retirement ceremony are, from left, Bauer, John Northstein, Jo Hurd, Laura Northstein, Tom Swankler, Janet Leigh, Barbara Bauer, David Bauer and Jackie Beyea.